To the Edge of Purgatory
by Cyanide 6
Summary: An afternoon of boredom will lead Maka to understanding the full purpose of Death's City, as a casual treck turns into something far more. Serious AU. Not MakaXKid, they just happen to be the main characters. Please review!


Maka and Soul were hanging around one day, bored. It was a long weekend, and neither had anything to do.

"Why don't we go to the edge of Death's City," Maka finally suggested. "We've been to the top often, we live up here. But I've never been to the outskirts. Have you?"

Soul frowned. "Probably. I wasn't born here. But I don't remember it well." He shrugged. "Sounds cool. Cool enough, anyway. _No one _goes to the edge. I don't even think many people leave the city…" He gave her a sharp toothed grin. "It's not like I have anything better to do."

That last statement was true for all of five seconds, before Black*Star burst in, begging Soul to go play basketball with him, Tsubaki, Patti and Liz.

Soul glanced over at Maka. "You cool if I go?"

Maka shrugged. "Just so long as I don't have to play." She smiled. "You go, I'll see you around."

Maka watched them run out, before leaving the house herself.

She looked up as a young girl maybe a year younger than herself, walked by, staring up at the city in awe.

"Hey!" Maka called, waving. "You new here?"

The girl looked over. "Yeah, I just got here. I'm going to the Death Weapon Meister Academy," she said, a note of pride in her voice.

Maka grinned. "I go there. Are you a weapon or a Meister."

"Meister. Is it really as hard to collect 99 kishin souls and one witch.?"

Maka nodded. "You haven't fought them yet. They're tough, trust me." Then it was Maka's turn to take on a note of pride. "My partner and I have just finished collecting the 99. We just captured the soul of Jack the Ripper."

The girl's expression clouded. "Isn't he dead?" She asked, confusedly.

"Yeah, we killed him."

She stilled seemed confused. "But I thought… Well I had heard…" Then she shrugged. "Nevermind. I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school, then!"

Maka nodded. "See you then."

Maka watched as she walked off, before turning toward a set of descending stairs.

"I guess I _will _head to the edge of Death's City," she mused, before heading down them at a slight run.

She passed through the sunny, well lit neighborhoods, where the buildings were bright and oddly painted, and the inhabitants who were out were tending to yards, or just walking by.

She continued to head out, down more staircases, through more levels of neighborhoods. As she got further down, some of the houses' paint was chipped, and their seemed to be less little children playing in the yards.

She was busy glancing around, never having really paid much attention to Death City as a whole. She wasn't looking where she was going, and didn't even see him, until she had nearly bowled him over.

"Oh!" She stopped just short. "Sorry Kid!"

Kid blinked. "Oh. It's alright." He dusted his suit off slightly. "So, what brings you here, Maka?"

Maka shrugged. "I'm going to the bottom most part of Death's City. I want to see what the edge looks like."

"Not much to see, actually. I'd suggest not."

Maka shrugged this off. "I've got nothing better to do."

"Seriously Maka, I wouldn't suggest it." His tone was harder.

"I'll be fine, Kid."

Before he had any more time to protest, she ran on, leaving him looking slightly irritated.

She glanced back a minute later, to see him, a solitary figure, still watching her.

_Wonder what he meant?_

Maka, again, shrugged it off, and continued running.

She lost track of time, letting her mind wander, thinking about random things as they crossed her thoughts.

Suddenly, she noticed that the buildings around her weren't as nice as they had been. The level she was at was by no means, shabby, but it wasn't as elegant as the part of town she lived in.

She continued through the neighborhood, and down another flight of stairs, into the next one, which was much like the one she had just left.

_This must've been what Kid was talking about. _This part of Death City wasn't as quirky and bright as where she lived. It was slightly more faded.

But not too bad.

She continued her run. She seemed to run for hours before the buildings changed in any noticeable fashion.

Then she passed another demarcation line without noticing, but eventually she realized that the houses around her were narrower, and taller. The individual apartments were smaller, dingier. The paint was grey or brown, or other dull Earth tones.

"Maka."

She turned around, only to see Kid looking at her inquisitively. "Maka, why don't you come back with me. There's nothing to see here in this place. It's only a more broken down place then where we live." He held out a hand. "Come back, Maka."

Maka shook her head. "I've never seen this part of Death's City. I want to see the edge."

He frowned, but Maka didn't want to hear more protests, and, once again, left him behind as she ran on.

Again, hours seemed to pass without her noticing. The sky seemed to grow dark, though not with night, but with gloom.

_Shouldn't night have come by now? Surely several hours have passed… Ah well. I've never been good at keeping time._

Smiling to herself, she kept running, with her inexhaustible energy that never seemed to waver.

A few hours more, and she noticed the smell. It didn't hit her at first, but as she passed another invisible demarcation line, it became more noticeable.

In fact, the neighborhood she was in seemed far more run down. There were broken shutters on the windows of the tall, daunting, ramshackle houses. There was a slight smell of things rotting in the air, and there were puddles of water in the street. It was darker here, again, more in the sense of gloom and clouds than the dark of night.

_It has to be night time by now. And what's with these clouds overhead? There weren't any before._

Maka felt a slight chill run down her spine. Something seemed off about this.

She took a deep breath. Well, she wasn't going to stop now. She had to almost be there.

But as she continued, she noticed the stairs leading to each neighborhood seemed more twisted, and the layout wasn't as easy to follow as they were back where she lived.

She found herself running through alleys and passages for quite a while before she found the next staircase.

And the further she went down, the more the smell grew. And the houses…

Well, they weren't so much as _houses _anymore. They were tall buildings, the kind that lined the alleyways she ran down. But as she kept turning, she noticed there were less and less _streets _and more alleys.

Then, passing another invisible line, she noticed the people.

But something was wrong with them.

Their faces were long, and seemed sad. They walked aimlessly, slowly, tiredly, as if they had nowhere to go, and weren't in a hurry to get there.

The smell of rotting stuff was stronger now, with undertones of a sharp, acrid scent, that occasionally burnt her nose.

"Come back, Maka," a voice whispered.

She whipped around to, once again, find herself face-to-face with Kid.

He smiled. "Come on, Maka. Come back where it's nice, and comfortable. You don't belong down here."

Maka shivered. The whole experience was unsettling, but, being a stubborn girl, she shook her head.

"No Kid. I'm going all the way down."

She turned and ran, though she glanced around more.

_How had Kid kept sneaking up on her? I guess this is his father's city, he should know it better._

She kept running. The people she saw would glance up at her, before backing away.

The further she went, the stronger the acrid smell was. It occasionally made her eyes water, and burned her throat.

As she went, the air seemed to get foggy. The fog, however, wasn't a cool mist. It seemed hot, although the air was cold.

Or maybe it was the other way around…

Either way, it was uncomfortable. Either too hot or too cold. She felt chills and goose bumps, but was also sweaty and shaky. Besides, the mist seemed to almost _burn _her.

The people around seemed to slink away from her, and they were, there really was no other word. They were _ugly_.

Their faces were long and distorted. Their limbs were uneven and gangly. Their faces were grey, and they seemed to hiss at her arrival.

The buildings were tall and foreboding, blocking out the sun. Again, she was faced with tall walls, the like you see in an alley, but _all _the streets were alleys. They never seemed to open up, and the buildings didn't seem to have fronts.

The streets were slimy, and riddled with potholes. The air was damp with the same burning, chilling mist. The puddles on the ground were shiny and gross.

Maka avoided them at all costs. She was starting to get worried, now.

_This place is terrible! And these people… They almost don't look human. And the smell, it's dark and horrible here._

Then she thought about how long had past. It must be well over twenty hours, but she hadn't realized it until now.

_Is that even possible? It's not night yet!_

Then a thought shook her.

_I didn't even know Death's City was this **big**._

She began running again, though now there was a hint of desperation in her footsteps. She wanted to finish, and leave this place.

More time passed. The tall grey buildings that lined the alleys were unchanging.

The air felt thicker, and her lips and eyes burned. Even her skin seemed to be getting welts.

Her hands were red, the same way they would be if she plunged them in a bowl of ammonia.

The people were worse. Their hair was long and greasy, lank, unwashed, and wet.

They seemed sad. No worse. Though they moved listlessly, there was a desperate agony to their movements, almost as if they were lamenting.

Their close resembled torn cloths, with no discernible sleeves, or legs, or seams.

She finally stopped, panting, the air burning her lungs.

"Where am I," she whispered.

"Where you don't belong."

She didn't even have to look to know that it was Kid.

"But what _is _this place? It's repulsive."

She shivered, feeling sick to her stomach, burning and chilled all over.

She received no answer and turned to look at him.

He stared at her. In the bleak atmosphere, he seemed to have a stark contrast.

Also, while Maka was panting in the filthy atmosphere, Kid seemed unaffected.

"Maka, this place isn't where you belong. You live in the upper sections of Death City for a reason. This isn't where you're supposed to be. Come back to where it's nice. And comfortable."

Maka didn't listen. "What's wrong with them? These people."

Kid looked at them, a look of almost pity on his face. "Not everyone is as beautiful as you, Maka." It wasn't so much a compliment, as it was a fact.

"But-"

"Maka," he finally snapped, losing the soothing tone he had used before. "Your soul reflects your looks."

Maka stared. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me. Now will you come back?"

Maka hesitated. "No. Something's wrong here. These people, this place. Time in general. Explain."

He paused. "I… can't. I'm forbidden to."

A woman walking by paused, glancing over at them. She saw Kid, and seemed to shrink away. "Please," she hissed. "I'm sorry. Please-"

He held up a hand. "I'm not here for you."

She then turned and ran.

Maka frowned. "Who was that?"

Kid sighed, and shrugged. "I don't know Maka. That's not my job now. Come back."

"No. Not until you explain."

Kid shook his head.

Maka turned, and began walking away. "Your father runs this place," she called over her shoulder. "Shouldn't he know about this?"

Kid was quiet, before he muttered, "He knows. He created it."

Maka froze. "Does he know about these people? No one should be tormented!"

Kid smiled slightly at this. "No," he said, laughing quietly. "No one should. And that's why these people are here."

Maka was flat out confused by now. What with the strange reality, the place, the people… And now Kid?

She turned, running, but it was hard when her lungs screamed at her to breath more, even though she was panting heavily. The air held little oxygen.

Finally, after tearing down a few more staircases, she stopped, panting heavily, shaking all over, aching, burning, sweating and chilled.

Ahead of her, though, she saw sunlight.

She took shaky steps toward it, until she held a hand firmly on her shoulder.

She winced at the pressure.

Kid's voice whispered in her ear again, "Maka. Please, don't leave. It's not good for you. I'm not even sure what will happen."

She pushed him away. "What are you talking about? Kid, ever since I started on my journey you've been acting weird." She ran forward a little more. The edge of Death's City was there, a few yards ahead of her.

Though she had just planned to go to the edge, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she _didn't _know what lay beyond Death's City. And as much as she wracked her mind, she couldn't remember a single person she had ever met had ever told her.

Now she wanted to know.

"Maka, please."

Taking a deep breath she stepped into the blinding light…

.

She blinked, looking around. She was standing in the desert. All around her was sand.

But something was strange. Something was wrong.

The air was off. She seemed so much more dependent on it than she had ever been. And the wind and sun felt harsh.

It was much nicer than the horrible quarters of Death's City, but it was still strange.

"Are you satisfied, Maka?" an irritated voice said.

"Kid," she said, not turning around, "why are you so determined that I not leave?"

"You're lucky you're with me! You'd be gone if I wasn't here. Lost forever."

Maka shrugged at the cryptic statement. "I'm gonna find civilization."

She started off running, but found, to her horror, that she tired after a few minutes.

"What's wrong," she panted.

Kid, who had been next to her, shrugged. "No water."

Maka frowned. "That was never much of a problem before."

Then she noticed something else. It had been noticeable as she ran. She felt heavy, uncoordinated. Like the gravity was different.

She gave a test jump, and found that she could only jump a few inches, compared to the flying leaps she could perform earlier.

Next to her, Kid had summoned his skateboard. "Need a lift?"

As they rode, Maka found another problem. Her balance was all off. The wind that whistled by threatened to knock her off had Kid not been holding her.

Soon a town was in sight, and they came to a slow. "We can't enter there. Not on Beelzebub. People will notice."

Maka didn't question this. Questioning had gotten her nowhere before, she didn't see what good it would do now.

She entered the town.

It was again, strange. The people walked strange, as if gravity pulled them down harder.

Their skin was rough and marked. Their clothes didn't stay perfectly on them, like Maka and her friend's did. Instead they hung off, or were wrinkled.

They weren't all in shape, they squinted in the sunlight. Their hair was all boring browns, blonds, blacks, and greys. There were no vibrant colors she had taken for granted in Death's City.

"What's wrong with this place?"

Finally, she received an answer.

"Maka, most of the world is this way. In fact, I can say the _whole _world is. There doesn't exist a place as perfect as Death's City on Earth."

"But… Death's City exists!"

Maka had reached her peak. "Nothing you say makes sense!" She screamed.

Someone looked at her in shock. "Who are you yelling at?" The man asked.

Maka gestured at Kid. "Him! He says my home doesn't exist! He says that everywhere is like _this_! He won't tell me where I am! He tried to stop me from leaving Death's City!"

The man stared at her. "Can I help you? Do you need me to call your parents, do they know where you are? Should I call an ambulance?"

Kid grasped Maka's arm. "Maka," he hissed, "they can't see me. You sound like a lunatic."

Maka blinked, before yelling at him, "I want to go home!"

Kid sighed. "Well, it's about time you decided to listened to me. I've been trying to tell you that all you'll find out here is confusion. Come on." To himself, he muttered, "I'm not even sure I know how to get you back."

Maka followed him out of the town, freaked out, ignoring the protests of the man behind her.

"Miss, please! There's nothing out there but desert, you shouldn't be out in your condition."

Maka felt her skin burn in the hot sun. She sat on his skateboard as they flew back. She had better balance that way, since standing seemed impossible.

"Kid," she whispered. "What's wrong with this place? Why is it so different than Death City?"

"Maka, _this place _as you keep referring to it, is Earth. And it's not the only thing that's different. _You _are. You're reliant on the gravitational force, the oxygen, and have a human's endurance."

"But I _am _human," she protested, tears in her eyes. In the past few (hours? days? weeks?) her whole world had turned upside-down.

.

Maka saw, in the distance, the mountain Death's City was on.

She jumped off the skateboard, and ran to it, despite her legs and lungs protesting at the exertion in the heat.

As she got closer, she realized that something was very wrong.

"No," she whispered, tears coming to her eyes.

The mountain was barren. Rocks, a few scraggly trees were all that met her eyes.

"NO!" She ran to the foot of the mountain, before collapsing, exhausted. "What's wrong? I don't understand! Where's Death City?"

She stayed there for a while, as the sun sunk lower in the sky.

"Kid!" She called, but there was no answer. "KID?"

She was alone, trembling, clutching onto one of the rocks, tears streaming down her face.

She remember the man's words. "There's nothing out there but desert."

Had there ever been a Death's City? "Where is it?"

"It's not here."

Maka whipped around, to find her friend, standing there. Or at least, she _thought _it was him. He was in his reaper robes, his face hidden.

"K-Kid?"

He advanced toward her. "Maka, close your eyes, and you'll be back in Death's City soon."

Maka began to close her eyes, but not before she saw his hand fly to his side, and pull out a knife.

Her eyes flashed open, but not in time to dodge, or block…

.

Maka's eyes opened. She sat up in bed yawning.

She checked the clock. 10:30?

She was going to be late for her first day of school!

She struggled to get out of bed, before running to her closet.

Then the door opened.

She screamed as two boys she had never seen before appeared in the doorway.

"Get out of here! What are you doing in my house?"

The white haired one looked alarmed. "Maka! What are you talking about?"

The one with stripes in his hair sighed.

"Soul, I'll take care of this. I don't think Maka will be able to go to school today."

"What are you talking about, I'll be fine to go to school, just as soon as you two freaks get out!"

The white haired one was shocked, but before he could protest, he was pushed out.

The striped haired one looked at her, sighing.

"Maka," he whispered. "Remember."

Maka stared at him, confused, before she was hit by the wash of memories that flooded back to her.

"K-k-kid? Wha-what's going on?" She asked, bewildered.

"I'm sorry. It was the only way I could get you back here."

She remembered their last encounter before she woke up here.

"I don't understand."

"No. But I think you will once I return the rest of your memories back to you."

Then came more memories. Memories of her life. Memories of being a child, growing up, going to school, finding friends, getting married, having children.

Then came one that ended the progression sharply. It involved being in a car and crossing an intersection. She hadn't even quite seen the other car coming…

She looked up at Kid, gasping.

He sat down next to her. "Do you understand?"

Slowly, she was getting it.

"Death's City," he whispered, "isn't on Earth. It's a place people go, well, when they die. What else would Death be doing here? You come here to live another life, paying for any transgressions you have committed in life. So few people live out as virtuous a life as you did. Most people live in the less comfortable sections of the city. The worst people live at the base. But the few ones who truly lived good lives, get to live at the top, where they have few trials, as they have few debts to pay off. Take Patti and Liz. They were criminals, it's true, for the first 15 years of their lives. They realized the err of their ways, murdering, stealing, etc. They changed their ways, to the extent where they have the rare honor of being the next Death God's weapons.

"When you left, I was forced to give you a human form. That's what was so different on Earth. To bring you back to this world, you… had to be killed." He seemed truly unhappy about this last part. "I'm sorry about that," he whispered.

Maka stared at him. "So this is the afterlife?"

"No. It's a sort of purgatory. To make you pay for your misdeeds on Earth. After you spend your time here, you may move on. Once in the afterlife, you remember all of this, but until then, you have only memories of Death's City. However, some people, however, do not accept their punishment. These are often the worst souls on Earth. When they're brought here, they don't think they deserve punishment. They turn against the order of things. They are-"

"Kishins. I get it." She sat there, as the whole enormity of it sunk in. Then she sighed. "I don't like it. I don't like this. I don't want to be… dead." She whispered the last word. "All of us."

"Not me. I'm a Death God. My father is Death, incarnate. In a few years, I'll take his place, and bring souls here, sending them to where they belong, and then send other souls on to the afterlife."

Maka nodded, staring ahead. "I wish I didn't know," she said, simply. "I wish I was still Maka Albarn, a normal girl with a fairly normal life."

Kid looked at her, frowning. "I can get rid of those memories if you want. You'll get them back once you move on, but here and now, you'll just be Maka Albarn."

Maka looked up at him, eyes shining slightly. "You can do that? Wait, I have one more question: The people who live down below, do they know that they're repenting?"

Kid smiled slightly. "Each person in Death City knows their role. They don't know yours, you don't know theirs. Are you ready?"

Maka nodded, closing her eyes tightly…

,

Maka woke up the next morning with a jolt. She was going to be late for school!

"Soul, why didn't you wake me up?" She shouted.

Soul poked his head in her room. "Pft, are you being normal again? Good, I need my Meister back."

Her eyes narrowed as he smirked.

.

"Maka… CHOP!"


End file.
